Device for preventing the formation of ice on conductor rails



April 4, 1950 H. cHANTl-:R

` DEVICE FOR PREVENTING THE FORMATION OF' ICE ON CONDUCTOR RAILS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 26, 1948 .M 1; A H C W Homey:

April 4, 1950 H. CHANTER 2,502,927

DEVICE FOR PREVENTING THE FORMATION OF ICE ON CONDUCTOR RAILS Filed Jan.26, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l l l l l 'U Q)- 1 [Iman/ur H/iy C Mrm BySlwuuawm'uh tlorneya Patented Apr. 4, 1950 DEVICE FOR PREVENTING THEFORMATION OF ICE N CONDUCTOR RAILS Harry Chanter, Harrow, England,assigner of one-half to Kilfrost Manufacturing Company Limited,Newcastle upon Tyne, England Application January 26, 1948, Serial No.4,356` In Great Britain February 5, 1947 (Cl. lill- 62) 2 Claims.

Inelectric traction systems in which the electric motor or motors whichdrive a vehicle are supplied with current from one or more conductorrails engaged by conductor shoes on the vehicle, difculty has beenexperienced in certain climatic conditions due to the formation of iceon the surface of the conductor rail or rails, which wholly or partiallyinsulates the rail or rails and thus prevents proper contact being madetherewith by the shoes.

The main object of the present invention is to provide means forovercoming or minimizing the said difficulty, and more particularly, toprovide for the application oi anti-freezing liquid to conduetor shoesfor application thereby to a conductor rail, A further object is toprovide a device for this purpose which is of small overall dimensions,and is capable of being readily set in or out of operation.

According to the present invention, a device for applying anti-freezingliquid to conductor shoes for application thereby to the conductor railsof an electric traction system comprises a container for theanti-freezing liquid adapted to be so mounted that its upper surface istraversed by the conductor shoes, a roller mounted in said container,spring means urging said roller upwardly towards a position in which itprojects through an opening in the upper surface of the container, andexternally operable means for urging the roller downwardly into thecontainer and retaining it in a lowered position.

The spring means may comprise a pair of blade springs each connected toone end of a spindle carrying the roller, the roller being located inthe casing solely by the said springs, and the externally operable meansmay comprise a rotary member provided with two arms each acting on oneof the blade springs.

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, of one form of device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the deviceishown in Figure 1, part of thecover being broken away.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a container Ill having abase, sides and ends of mild steel sheet secured together by welding,the base Il being wider than the container itself to provide externallongitudinal flanges I2. The container, when in position for use, issecured by studs I3 and nuts I 4 to mild steel bars I 5 extendingbetween the spaced ends I6 and Il of sections of a conductor rail, thebars I5 being welded at their ends to the under surfaces of the railsections. A copper strip Iii` also extends between the rail ends, and iswelded to them, to carry the electrical current between the rail ends.

The container lil is closed at the top by a sheetmetal lid 2l, havinglugs 22 at its sides which nt over the sides oi the container and arese*- cured thereto by set screws 23. 4Along the .centre 0f the lid, andwelded thereto-0, a thick metal Strip 24 having the same width as theheads oi the rails I6 and Il, the arrangement being such that, when thecontainer is in position, the upper surface of the strip 24 issubstantially continuous with the upper surfaces of the rails. A slot 25extending through both the main lid 2| and the strip 24 forms an openingin the top of the container adjacent one of its ends. A roller having ametal hub 26 on which is mounted a circumferentially grooved rubber tire21 is carried on a spindle 28 extending into bearings formed by sleeves3l inserted in eyes 32 formed on the ends of two blade springs 33 theother ends of which are secured by studs 34 and nuts 35 to the base ofthe container, at the end oi the latter remote from the opening 25. Theblade springs 33 are so set that they urge the roller 25, 2'I upwardly,and of such length that the roller, when urged upwardly, passes into theslot 25, the upper portion of the roller projecting through the slot.Stops 36 mounted on the underside of the lid limit the upward movementof the roller.

A shaft 31 journalled in the side walls of the container carries a pairof arms 38, 38 each cooperating with one of the blade springs 33. Oneend of the shaft projects to the outside of the container, and is fittedexternally thereof with an arm 4I, so that the shaft can be rocked bymovement of the arm 4I. The arrangement is such that in one position ofthe shaft the arms 38, 38 bear downwardly on the blade springs 33, 33 soas to depress the roller into the container, and hold it in thedepressed position as shown in chain dotted lines in Figure 1, whilst inanother position the arms 38, 38 are clear of the springs and allow theroller to rise to the position in which it is shown in full lines inFigure 1. A stop 42 may be provided on the wall of the con tainer tolocate the arm 4I in the position in which the arms 38, 38 depress thesprings 33, 33, and a spring loaded detent 43 may be mounted in the arm4I to engage with depressions in the side oi' the container when the armIl is in either of its extreme positions.

When conditions are such that formation of ice on the conductor rails islikely to occur, the roller 26, 21 is released from its depressedposition so that it projects through the slot and the conductor shoes ofany vehicle passing along the track with which the conductor rail isassociated engage and rotate the roller. Anti-freezing liquid in thecontainer is thus picked up by the roller and applied to the conductorshoe, by which it is applied in turn to the surface of the conductorrail, thus preventing or minimizing the formation of ice on the saidrail.

What I claim is:

1. A device for applying anti-freezing liquid to conductor shoes forapplication thereby to the conductor rails of an electric tractionsystem, comprising a container for anti-freezing liquid, means formounting the container between spaced portions of a conductor rail, atop to said container forming a continuation of the surface of theconductor rail upon which the conductor shoes bear, an opening in saidtop surface, a roller mounted in said container, a spindle carrying saidroller, a pair of blade springs each connected to one end of saidspindle, said blade springs constituting the sole means for locating theroller in said casing, a rotary member mounted in said casing, two armsprovided on said rotary member and each acting on one of said bladesprings, and means external to said casing for rotating said rotarymember to a position in which said arms engage and depress said bladesprings to position the roller wholly within the casing.

2. A device for mounting between spaced portions of a conductor rail ofan electric traction system for applying anti-freezing liquid toconductor shoes and thereby to the conductor rail. comprising at leastone steel bar welded to the undersurface oi' said rail so as to extendacross the gap between the spaced portions, a container foranti-freezing liquid having a depth equal to the depth of the conductorrail, means for securing said container to said bar, a top to saidcontainer forming a continuation of the surface of the conductor railupon which the conductor shoes bear, an opening in said top surface, aroller mounted in said container, spring means urging said rollerupwardly towards a position in which it projects through the opening,and a copper bar extending across the gap between the spaced portions oisaid conductor rail and welded to the undersurfaces of said portions,said copper bar serving to carry the electric current across said gap.

HARRY CHANTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 199,602 Walton Jan. 22, 1878439,916 Whittlesey Nov. 4, 1890 452,318 Reiss May l2, 1891 1,680,290Hamilton Aug. 14, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 467,344 GreatBritain June 16, 1937

